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Fraternity Brothers Balk at a $515,000 Party for Defending the Flag
After students at the University of North Carolina shielded a U.S. flag from protesters, admirers raised money to throw a ‘rager’ in their honor. Some don’t want it.
In interviews, several members of the U.N.C. chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity, said they were disappointed that the money raised on their behalf was paying for a party. They said they would rather that a significant portion of the money go to a charity that supports Jewish organizations or relief efforts in Gaza.
The “rager,” they said, felt callous given that it grew out of a painful moment for both Jews and Palestinians — all as the war in the Middle East continued.
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“The use of our actions to promote a narrative that we were some right-wing, MAGA heroes has been a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to many of those who were actually there,” said Oliver Levine, a junior at the university and the president of its Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter.
Members of other fraternities had a rosier view of the party, saying it was simply about uniting around patriotism.
Jason Calderon, a sophomore and the president of school’s Zeta Beta Tau chapter, told reporters during a Zoom news conference on Wednesday that “the outpouring of people interested in coming to the event, and the outpouring of support” from U.N.C. students had been overwhelming. The news conference was organized by the public relations team for John Rich, a country singer who will perform at the party along with Aaron Lewis and Lee Greenwood, whose song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” is played at Mr. Trump’s rallies.
Mr. Calderon said that Flagstock was supposed to be “about coming together, rather than separating people apart.”
Alpha Epsilon Pi members said that about 15 of those defending the flag on April 30 were from their fraternity but that members of other fraternities stood with them. They added that they respected the rights of pro-Palestinian groups to protest.
U.N.C. Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian group that had members at the April protest, said in a statement that removing the American flag was “a valid form of protest against the atrocities the U.S. and Israel are inflicting on Palestinians.”
Many of the fraternity members on the quadrangle that day, Alpha Epsilon Pi members noted, had come to show support for Israel and their Jewish faith.
“You have this huge party with all of these people honoring us for what we did for the flag,” said Brendan Rosenblum, 23, a senior and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, “but not as much honoring us for the Jewish piece that was the original reason we were all there.”
